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Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Call for Papers: N&N Issue 3.2 'Return'

The January 2015 issue of Networks and Neighbours will be dedicated to exploring the concept of ‘return’ in the history and historiography of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.

Complementing the theme of the first issue of the 2015 volume (‘migration’), the July 2015 issue of N&N will focus on ‘return’. As usual for N&N, the issue’s theme can be read in a number of ways and allows a diversity of responses. In Early Medieval Studies and across the Humanities, in recent years, we have seen a plethora of ‘returns’, from theology and eschatology, to theories of the object and objectivity, to history itself. ‘Return’ can refer to the desire to reintroduce a previous situation, revive or reform past or currently existing ways of life, ideas, institutions, languages, narratives, and historiographies. Historical examples of ‘return’ can range from reception studies looking at drives for the past and memory construction, to psychological enquiries dealing with trauma, to archaeological research on building syncretism, to returns of linguistic or material culture forms, to the impact of present narratives about ‘rights of return’ on historiographical discussions, and so on.

We welcome papers on any of these topics as well as any other related issues, perspectives, and interpretations. We encourage papers dealing with historiographical questions, and also enquiries about the role of early medieval historians in public dialogue. As is the tradition of Networks and Neighbours, these suggestions are not meant to be prescriptive. Though we look forward to submissions which question, develop, or reject altogether our plural notions and interpretations of ‘return’, we also welcome submissions on any other aspect of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, which fits with the overall philosophy of Networks and Neighbours.

Abstracts for proposed articles should be received by 1 February 2015, with full papers to be submitted electronically by 15 March 2015. Prospective articles will be between 6,000-10,000 words (including footnotes but excluding the bibliography), prepared for blind review, and accompanied by an article summary of approximately 250 words. In addition to scholarly articles the editors of N&N also invite book reviews as well as reports from conferences, exhibitions, masterclasses and other relevant events. As always, Networks and Neighbours will accept articles in any modern language, although an English abstract is required for all submissions.

N&N Vol. 4.1 (Jan 2016) ‘World History’
Beginning with the Chronicle of Eusebius, which was continued in myriad forms, many late antique and early medieval authors attempted to write ‘world history’. Today’s historians are increasingly concerned with approaching their discipline with a global, post-national, framework in mind, abandoning traditional geographical limitations in order to provide comparisons between concurrent developments in different parts of the world. The January 2016 issue of N&N will consider ‘World History’ in these and other contexts. Abstracts for proposed articles should be received by 15 July 2015, with full papers to be submitted by 31 August 2015.